Sweden Says Controversial Covid-19 Strategy Is Proving Effective

[killaphill]

Source: Bloomberg

Sweden’s unusual approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic is starting to yield results, according to the country’s top epidemiologist.

Anders Tegnell, the architect behind Sweden’s relatively relaxed response to Covid-19, told local media the latest figures on infection rates and fatalities indicate the situation is starting to stabilize.

“We’re on a sort of plateau,” Tegnell told Swedish news agency TT.

Sweden has left its schools, gyms, cafes, bars and restaurants open throughout the spread of the pandemic. Instead, the government has urged citizens to act responsibly and follow social distancing guidelines.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sweden-says-controversial-covid-19-strategy-is-proving-effective/ar-BB12SfN0

[AlexSFCA]

1. very interesting experiment

[doc03]

2. The Republicans are going to jump on the

bandwagon for that.

[IggleDuer]

9. Republicans don't act responsibly

N/T

[Nay]

18. Exactly. We'd never be able to count on them to follow intelligent instructions.

[moonseller66]

32. In a hypocrital way, perhaps

Sweden also has less restrictive sexual views.

I'm sure the Republigelicals won't mention that as a go to!

[IronLionZion]

3. Republicans will do it completely differently and claim it's the same

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. At the cost of how many lives?

Sweden has had 1,540 deaths, 152 per million population. Its neighbor Norway, with almost identical demographics but much stricter CV-19 controls, has had 165 deaths, 30 per million population. Their situation stabilized a couple of weeks ago.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Swedish mortality rate is over 10% of known cases. Very bad for advanced healthcare system

There is more to this story than is being told. The "plateauing" is weaker and not as accomplished as other countries.

[tblue37]

20. Check your subject line. nt

[LisaL]

22. Thanks.

[tblue37]

24. You're welcome. Autocorrect is a nasty little gremlin. nt

[LisaL]

23. They also have high death rate per capita.

[tblue37]

25. BTW, you can edit your posts. You don't have to delete & repost like on Twitter.

The "edit" button is at the bottom right of your post. nt

[iemitsu]

29. And the Swedish population may suffer lifelong complications from the herd immunity.

[eShirl]

8. plus, they're being lax with safety guidelines for nursing homes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/19/anger-in-sweden-as-elderly-pay-price-for-coronavirus-strategy

Anger in Sweden as elderly pay price for coronavirus strategy

Staff with no masks or sanitiser fear for residents as hundreds die in care homes

[cayugafalls]

5. Health care and College education are free. Leading to a higher % of educated adults.

Critical thinking skills are taught and not despised like the religious right here in the states.

It is why people there are able to practice good social distancing without enforcement from their government.

This is just my opinion based on my interactions with several friends from Sweden.

[defacto7]

21. Their infection and death rates are pitiful compared to their neighbors.

What it shows is that education alone does not make wisdom.

[sdfernando]

6. This may work for Sweden but would never work in the U.S.

The cultural differences and attitudes dictate social behavior. The U.S. is wild compared to most countries in a lot of respects. Just look the the assholes protesting to stop the shelter in place orders.

I'll be curious to see what their infection rate is and the percentage of deaths.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. It isn't even working all that well for Sweden. See above posts.

[LisaL]

12. It didn't exactly work for Sweden either.

Their population is only 10 millions, which means they had ~50,000 US equivalent deaths.

[PSPS]

11. Effective?

First, it says "the government has urged citizens to act responsibly and follow social distancing guidelines" which is exactly the opposite of what the trump cult is trying to undermine. In other words, Sweden's citizens are behaving responsibly which is something we can never count on when it comes to people who think "coal burner trucks" are funny.

Second, their statistics show that they're actually doing horribly even if we assume better compliance. The death rate is twice as high as its neighbor Norway.

"We're on a sort of plateau" isn't quite the same as "proving effective" but MSN likes the click bait.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Their death rate is actually five times Norway's - 152/pmp vs. 30.

That has to mean something.

[PSPS]

16. Thanks, but I'll pass on that version of "effective."

[chowder66]

15. There are many differences between Sweden and the US

They have a well designed healthcare system. They are healthier than Americans on average, they have a population of 10+ million.

Also from the article.....

Pomeroy pointed to some Swedish characteristics that may be helping the country deal with the current crisis. More than half of Swedish households are single-person, making social distancing easier to carry out. More people work from home than anywhere else in Europe, and everyone has access to fast Internet, which helps large chunks of the workforce stay productive away from the office.

And while many other countries have introduced strict laws, including hefty fines if people are caught breaching newly minted social-distancing laws, Swedes appear to be following such guidelines without the need for legislation. Trips from Stockholm to Gotland -- a popular vacation destination -- dropped by 96% over the Easter weekend, according to data from the country’s largest mobile operator, Telia Company. And online service Citymapper’s statistics indicate an almost 75% drop in mobility in the capital.

[Blasphemer]

17. Cultural differences have played a big part in variances in country's success w/ covid... nt

[Princess Turandot]

19. It might be called a success if you don't care about all of the deaths...

and I suspect that Mr Tegnell doesn't really care all that much, given some of his comments along the way. (He rationalized the deaths being as high as they were at one point because the figures included nursing home deaths. Those pesky old people.)

Right now, Sweden's deaths per 1 million of their population is 152. That is the 11th highest number in the world, per worldometers. (The US number is 121.) They are in the 21st position in the world in terms of the number of cases.

Compared to their immediate neighbors as of April 19, 2020, 18:38 GMT:

Cases - Deaths - Deaths per 1 million
Denmark 7,242 - 346 - 61
Finland 3,681 - 90 - 17
Norway 7,036 - 164 - 30
Sweden 13,822 - 1,511 - 152

[DrToast]

26. They're on a plateau because they're not testing

They’re testing even less than us.

[LisaL]

30. Exactly. How would they even know if they are anywhere near herd immunity?

For herd immunity (if covid even leads to it) a large proportion of the population has to be infected and survive the infection.
If they are not testing widely, how do they know they are anywhere near achieving herd immunity (again, if covid even results in herd immunity).

[TygrBright]

27. Sweden's lethality rate is 150/million. Norway's is 30/million.

Sweden has 1,424 cases/million of population. Norway has 1,306 cases/million of population.

Norway's population is about 50% of Sweden's. So I will multiply Norway's stats X2 for comparison:

Total cases:
Sweden: 14,385
Norway: 14,156 (7,078)

Total deaths:
Sweden: 1,540
Norway: 330 (165)

Total tests administered:
Sweden: 74,600
Norway: 284,332 (142,166)

Just on stats, Norway's doing a better job of keeping its citizens alive.

Norway's implemented strict distancing protocols and massive testing regimens.

Sweden is being "relaxed."

What have you learned today, class?

explicatorially,
Bright

[Igel]

28. I've learned that people call races in the first 10% of the time,

football and soccer games before the end of the 1st quarter, and tell students taking a test that they have 45 minutes and then collect it after 5.

And if I'm ever charged with criminal offense I don't want most people on this thread on my jury. 1/10th of the way through the trial, the jurors would all say, "Ah, we've heard all we need."

I have it on great authority that Japan is a great example of how to suppress the virus. Or at least that's what they said. Time has a tendency to change things.

Patience.

[DENVERPOPS]

34. One thing for sure

If I want to be tested, I will go to Norway.

Here in the U.S. it is nearly impossible to get tested.........by design I might add........

WASF

[TomCADem]

31. Sweden sees new surge in coronavirus cases with 613 more infections, up from 482 yesterday

It is kind of odd how folks spike the football even as the number of deaths climbs.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8226009/Sweden-sees-new-surge-coronavirus-cases-613-infections-482-yesterday.html

Sweden has seen a renewed spike in coronavirus cases today after another 613 people tested positive.

The 613 new cases mark the biggest jump for seven days and the third-largest since the crisis began, taking Sweden's total from 11,927 to 12,540.

Deaths were up by 130, the second-highest daily death toll after yesterday's 170, bringing the total from 1,203 to 1,333.

Sweden is continuing to hold out against a national lockdown despite growing criticism and calls for 'rapid and radical measures' to contain the outbreak.

[Rebl2]

33. Don't believe

a word their government is saying. From what I am reading in comments here, they are failing miserably.

[SunSeeker]

35. But Swedes already socially distance a LOT -- 50% live alone.

Even before Covid-19 struck, more than two thirds of Swedes already work online from home at least some of the time. More than half of all Swedish homes are made up of one resident, the highest proportion in Europe. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200328-how-to-self-isolate-what-we-can-learn-from-sweden

Nobody I know lives alone, or works from home more than 1 day a week.

Still, their death rates are twice the rate of other Scandinavian countries.

[w0nderer]

36. k & r n/t